FRANKFURT — Continental said the disruption to business from the coronavirus pandemic meant it was unable to provide financial guidance for this year, even as its first-quarter earnings came in higher than expected.
“The environment continues to be characterized by substantial uncertainty regarding the duration and severity of the disruptions and it remains difficult to gauge possible further adverse consequences on production, the supply chain and demand,” the German supplier said in a statement on Monday.
Continental said it made group sales in the first quarter of 9.84 billion euros ($10.7 billion), above its internal expectations of between 9.4 billion and 9.8 billion euros, but below the 11 billion euros ($11.9 billion) from the same quarter last year.
The adjusted operating profit margin was 4.4 percent, down from 8.8 percent in the prior year, but above the 2 percent to 3 percent range expected by the company in early April.
Revenue in the automotive technologies segment was down 12 percent in the first quarter, the company said.
Continental said its full financial report for the first quarter of 2020 will be released on May 7.
Continental ranks No. 4 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide original-equipment automotive parts sales of $37.8 billion in 2018.
